


To My Dear Mother

by AtlasAffogato



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Written letter format, Wu centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtlasAffogato/pseuds/AtlasAffogato
Summary: To My Dearest Mother,I am unsure if you will ever read this letter, but I will write it anyways.I am sure the news has reached you, wherever you may be, that Ba Sing Se has fallen.As far as the Republic knows, I am the last surviving Hou-Ting. That would make me next in line for the throne.Mobs of our people killed our family. I doubt they will want me back, but I will do everything in my power as future king to ensure their needs are met.Perhaps the walls were meant to come down. Perhaps I will make a lousy king, or perhaps I will be killed as soon as I step off the train. But until then, I will keep trying, for our people.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A collection of letters written from Wu to his mother detailing his stay in Republic City.
Relationships: Eventually - Relationship, Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have not written a multi-chapter fic before, so please have patience with me.

_ To my dearest Mother, _

_ Hello Mother. I haven’t written to you in far too long. I am unsure if you will ever read this letter, but I will write it anyways. I have no current location for you, so if you do receive this letter know that it has sat in my desk for far too long before being sent. It has been a long two weeks. I am sure the news has reached you, wherever you may be, that Ba Sing Se has fallen. My great-aunt was assassinated by a group of terrorists who destroyed the walls and overran the palace. As far as the Republic knows, I am the last surviving Hou-Ting. That would make me next in line for the throne. I hold out hope that you are alive, safe in the countryside, and are lying low until someone can find you. The Republic has given up on you, but I haven’t. _

_ But enough about that, we both know what happened. I am currently residing in Republic City, staying in a suite fit for royalty such as us. The President has been very kind and accommodating, and his police department has ensured I have 24 hour protection. I do not expect an attack here in Republic City, but you can never be too careful. The Avatar has succeeded in bringing the terrorists that destroyed our city to justice, however I have heard that she has been gravely injured. I beg the police chief for more information but she is tight lipped.  _

_ Republic City is gorgeous Mother, I hope you can make it here soon, you will love it, I am sure. It is nothing like Ba Sing Se. The city sprawls across a peninsula, unbothered by blockages or walls. Slums merge with high class. It was, jarring, to say the least. But I find it comforting, the city has grown on me the longer I stay here. I enjoy the silence of the palace, but it is refreshing to hear Satomobiles on the roads below the hotel. The one thing I cannot say I love about this city is the stench. Leaving the hotel makes me feel dirty, from the smoke of Satomobiles, the cigarette smoke, and the general grime of the streets. I take a bath every time I return. It makes me yearn for the clean streets of Ba Sing Se. But Ba Sing Se is gone up in flames, and I am not sure if I will ever return.  _

_ I have tried to stage conversation with the leadership of the Metal Clan, but so far I have received no word. The police chief assures me that the Metal Clan will try to stay out of the politics of Ba Sing Se, which I find absurd, but I digress. The president has assured me that Ba Sing Se will recover with the Republic’s help, and that my biggest obstacle is the rioters and those adverse to a monarch. Mobs of our people killed our family. I doubt they will want me back, but I will do everything in my power as future king to ensure their needs are met. Perhaps the walls were meant to come down. Perhaps I will make a lousy king, or perhaps I will be killed as soon as I step off the train. But until then, I will keep trying, for our people. For  _ my  _ people. It is all I can do from my suite.  _

_ I miss you Mother, and although that is a childish thing to say, it is the truth. I haven’t spoken to you in many months and I find myself yearning for your wisdom, your stories, your hugs. Three months without your embrace has left me starved, and Father was only a small help. We both know he doesn’t embrace like us. But Father is dead now. I will never again know his embrace or rough words. I will no longer spend my days in the palace libraries, or the botanical gardens. Instead, I sit here, in this beautiful, foreign city, and like a child, I long for my mother to return to me.  _

_ If you are still there, what is it like? The countryside? Fleeing Ba Sing Se was my first time outside of the Inner Ring, and I feel my heart might burst from the beauty of this massive world. A few hours travel and I am in a different country, I cannot imagine what the rest of the Earth Kingdom must look like. Are you back at the farm you were raised on? Are you at the small village you say you met Father in? Tell me everything, tell me about the plants and about the animals. Tell me about the trees and the people. I want to know everything.  _

_ Please write. _

_ Your loving son, _

_ Wu _


	2. Chapter 2

_ To my dearest Mother, _

_ I have been assigned a personal bodyguard following an attempt on my life. An unknown assailant had made an attempt on my life as I was eating dinner at a restaurant near the hotel yesterday. The guard outside the restaurant prevented any injury to my body and detained the attacker, but they later escaped custody. As I write this letter the assailant is still at large. I was wrong on my assumption that no one in Republic City would be motivated to kill me, but I was wrong. Republic City is just as politically charged as Ba Sing Se, perhaps even more so with the mixing cultures of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribe.  _

_ I have also recently been informed that the Air Nation has been revived from Harmonic Convergence, and that my great-aunt had stolen Earth Kingdom air benders and kept them under the palace. This disgusts me, and when I was informed I hate to inform you that I shook for hours. I find with the horrors continuing to surround me at all times that my shakes have returned. I fight hard to stay steady, just as you taught me, but it is hard. I will try, for you Mother.  _

_ I have still heard no word on your location or status. I fear the Republic’s police have stopped the search without telling me. I bother the police chief daily about updates, but still nothing has come of you. I hope you understand me unease with allowing the Earth Kingdom armies to aid in your search. I do not know who to trust in the Earth Kingdom anymore. All I wish is for you to be granted passage here to Republic City, unharmed. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that I have nothing with your scent so that you might be tracked. I was rushed out of the palace in barely a jacket and outer shoes. I was unable to bring any belongings or heirlooms, not that you would care much for either. I only wish I had something from home.  _

_ I am at war with myself Mother. My desire to be a good king is swayed by my loyalty to tradition and our past, and by my desire to move into the future for the better of our people. Who am I to let our entire palace, every artifact, ancient scroll, and heirloom burn? But who am I to put the love of possessions over the love of people? Citizens, humans just like us? Thinking about this makes my head ache. I wish you were here.  _

_ The true purpose of this letter was to seek your advice. As I stated before, I have recently been appointed a personal bodyguard, who will stay with me at all times in the day. So far today he has stood outside the bathroom as I used the toilet, sat across from me while I ate breakfast, saying nothing, and as I write this letter, he sits in a chair in the corner of the room, reading the newspaper. I do not know what to make of this man. He looks no older than me, but he never speaks and has a professional air that I could only hope to replicate. He is intimidating, yet the stoic nature is comforting. The advice I am asking, is if you have had any experience with personal bodyguards. I remember the story you told me years ago, of how there were riots and attacks after your marriage to Father. Were you ever threatened? Did you have a guard? How am I to engage with such a person? I am unsure if I should attempt to form a friendship or let him sit in silence. How long can I spend time with a person before striking up a conversation? I don’t think very long. I will attempt conversation before I finish this letter.  _

_ - _

_ Our conversation was brief but beneficial. I have learned that this man’s name is Mako, that he is in fact a year younger than me. I did not learn much, but the tension in the room is gone. Mako has returned to reading his paper and I have been drawn back to writing to you, Mother.  _

_ It has been only a week since my last letter, and while the first letter has not yet been sent, I hold out that I will find you before next week’s letter. Stay well Mother, I will be hearing from you soon. _

_ Your loving son, _

_ Wu _


	3. Chapter 3

_ To my dearest Mother, _

_ It has been three weeks since I last wrote you. _

_ Two weeks prior, your body was recovered floating down a small stream near your hometown. The chief tells me you died of drowning, but I know you could swim. It hurts to imagine what had happened to you. I find myself at a lack of words. I do not know how to express my current state. Is there even a point to writing you? You have left the physical world, there is no postage to the spiritual planes.  _

_ Sitting now at my desk is the first time I have left my bed since the news. I cannot bring myself to leave my suite.  _

_ Mako has remained. He has been kind. On my third day without leaving my bed he brought dumplings into my room and demanded I eat. He has been quiet still, but now I cherish the silence. The city feels too loud.  _

_ Mother I have not cried this much in all my life. _

_ I miss you Mother. _

_ I wish you had returned.  _

_ Your loving son, _

_ Wu _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry :(


End file.
